Papua New Guinea Waterways Assessment Additional Information
Inland waterways
According to 2003 data, the inland waterways are thought to amount to some 10,940 km. Under the
National Transport Development Plan 2001-2010, the main aims were to:
1. Fund the economically feasible costs of maintenance, rehabilitation and construction of
maritime facilities and the improvement of Navaids and boat services.
2. Establish a sustainable program to maintain the existing transport infrastructure such as ports,
wharves and jetties, ramps, landing areas, pontoons and warehouses.
3. Ensure that half the total expenditure in water transport is devoted to maintenance of facilities
and assets.
As for roads, budget allocations have not kept pace with needs and there remains a substantial
backlog to be dealt with
Coastal Shipping
• With its dispersed population, Papua New Guinea’s coastal shipping services takes on special
significance in providing access to rural communities. Innumerable small wharves, jetties and beach
landings provide the basic infrastructure for maritime services, but the majority of these is in poor
condition and carries very little traffic.
• The ports serving Port Moresby, Lae, Madang, Kimbe, and Rabaul carry international and coastal
traffic and have a reasonable level of infrastructure, but lesser ports, ranging from those at Wewak,
Kavieng, Oro Bay and Alotau to mere timber jetties and beach landings, provide only a basic service
for coastal traffic and are often unusable in bad weather. Many landings involve loading and
offloading over the ship’s side from/to small village “banana” boats and canoes.
• Madang, serving many small coastal vessels, and Kimbe, serving agricultural exports, are the most
frequently visited ports, but Port Moresby, Lae and Rabaul handle the most cargo; most imports
pass through Lae and Port Moresby.
• Lae is the main import/export point for the populous Highlands region, the goods moved from/to
the port by road. Annual throughput by the major ports has been growing at about the rate of
population growth with import/export tonnages (increasingly containerized, but also including a
growing logging trade) accounting for about a third of the total and most of the growth.
• Passenger cruise visits have started to grow, albeit from a low base. Coastal passenger operations
are significant between the larger centers like Lae, Madang, Kimbe, Kavieng and Buka, but recent
falls in traffic have led to some service reductions. Community-based services also extend to many
smaller coastal villages, often in small, open, over-loaded craft operating over stretches of open sea
without safety facilities or navigation aids.
• Coastal services are of several types provided by: primary shipping lines, with scheduled or semischeduled services mostly focusing on the major ports; secondary shipping lines, also providing
scheduled or semi-scheduled services to a mix of large and small ports; specialized, smaller and
often regional shipping companies providing specific services to industry, including charters;
operators of small commercial craft providing general goods and passenger services; community
based organizations providing semi-commercial services mostly for their own members; and
subsidized provincial government services.
• For the most part, even between Port Moresby and Lae, the coastal routes are poorly-equipped
with navigational aids (Navaids). The Fly River and its estuary is an exception; there, Navaids are
maintained by private mining and oil companies. Elsewhere, local companies and community groups
operate largely without charts or Navaids and rely on the local knowledge and skills of their ships’
masters. Sudden storms, mangrove swamps, shifting mud and sand banks and floating obstructions
make journeys hazardous. Simple, low-cost Navaids would significantly reduce the risks involved.
Sea transport routes
• To Provincial Ports
 Lae, HUB
 Port Moresby
 Aitape,
 Alotau,
 Buka,
 Daru,
 Kavieng,
 Kieta
 Kimbe,
 Lorengau,
 Madang
 Oro Bay,
 Rabaul
 Samarai,
 Vanimo,
 Wiewak
The Community Water Transport Project
• The Community Water Transport Project is engaged (inter alia) in establishing and supervising the
operation of subsidized transport services by water to remote communities that do not currently have
adequate cash incomes to support fares for transport at the level of full operating cost recovery
• A scheme of voluntary commercial contracts between the Government of PNG and private shipping
operators to provide subsidized shipping has been devised and is being established in phases.
The phase 1 franchises, let in 2009 for a period of 3 years, consist of the following routes:
• Sepik River in East Sepik Province
• Huon Coast of Morobe Province and Oro Province
• South Coast of East and West New Britain
• South East Coast of New Ireland
• Ramu River in Madang Province
• Western Province
Depending on the success of these initial franchises and also the funding generated by the
Community Water Transport Trust Fund, supplemented by GoPNG budgetary appropriations, a
second and subsequent phases may be possible
Routes to be served in the second phase of franchises would be expected to cover additional remote
communities that were not included in Phase 1.